


Ash to Ash, Dust to Dust

by Shi_Toyu



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Breathing issues, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Consequences, Gen, Genocide, Horror, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Medical, Medical Conditions, Medical Horror, Medical Trauma, Mentioned Character Death, Not My Fault, POV Bruce Banner, Pollution - Freeform, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sorry Not Sorry, Thanos Really Fucked Shit Up, The Author Regrets Nothing, hopelessness, i didn't ask for this, no happy ending, not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 04:55:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14709476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: Bruce might not have a medical degree, but he’d been a doctor long enough to understand the inevitable.





	Ash to Ash, Dust to Dust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rebelmeg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/gifts), [mistrstank (dreamingdarkly)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingdarkly/gifts).



> Gifted to the wonderful mistrstank and rebelmeg, for encouraging this endeavor in the most wonderful of ways.

It wasn’t until they got back to New York that it really hit just how _many_ people had died. Wakanda had been devastated, of course, and everywhere they’d turned, there’d been someone who wasn’t there anymore. But… there was something deeply horrifying to fly over New York and see how everything was covered in black soot, to _know_ where it all came from.

Bruce might not have a medical degree, but he’d been a doctor long enough to understand the inevitable. He couldn’t help but wonder if Thanos really understood what he was doing when he vanished half of the people in the universe. He’d spoken of balance, but that wasn’t what he’d brought. This was just chaos. Emergency personnel vanishing meant that pretty much everywhere was understaffed to respond to the sheer amount of pandemonium that erupted. Operators of cars, buses, trains, plains, boats, any and every vehicle had just disintegrated. Cops, paramedics, nurses, doctors… _Millions_ of people had died around the world in the aftermath of Thanos’ act. _Millions_. And it wasn’t over yet.

Bruce made sure the Avengers all wore their air purifying masks. Fighting against his first instinct to run and hide, helped along by the realization that there was nowhere _to_ hide, Bruce called out to as many organizations and government committees as he could. The absolute _need_ for awareness could not be stressed enough. But still, no one had been prepared for something like this. No one. Not even Tony, no matter how much he had tried. (Tony, who still hadn’t come back, who Bruce never expected to see again. Tony, who had been so _obsessed_ with protecting the entire world and none of them had taken him seriously.) There weren’t enough supplies to go around.

It was less than a few hours before the victims of ash inhalation started adding to the death toll. And Bruce knew, he knew, this wouldn’t do away. People who pushed through and survived would feel the effects years down the road. _Decades_ from now, people’s lives would still be cut short because of what happened here. Those in rural areas, like the Bartons, actually got the better end of the stick. Fewer people to disintegrate meant less dust in the air. Fewer _human remains_ to be inhaled.

It was like something out of a horror movie, a post-apocalyptic terror.

And it didn’t end with the air. The ash and dust contaminated just about every major water supply. San Francisco suffered tremendously, with their ban on water bottles eradicating an already limited supply of clean drinking water. Countries without established infrastructures had little hope to combat this new epidemic. There wasn’t a country in the world that hadn’t declared a state of emergency.

It made Bruce so _furious_. All of this destruction and death was _senseless_. There was no balance here! There was no good to come of this! This wasn’t population control. This could, very realistically, be the beginning of the end for the human race. There were plenty of people who already believed it. The riots and attacks from religious fanatics claiming the apocalypse had come were everywhere. More death, more destruction, more of a sense of utter hopelessness.

Yet, still, the Hulk would not come.

All of the rage and pain that Bruce felt was purely his own. His loss, his heartache, his fits of uncontrollable frustration and angst… They were all his. He could feel the Hulk there, in the background, but Bruce had long-since given up trying to get him to emerge. There was no point. Whatever kept the Hulk at bay, Bruce didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore. What reason was there?

The fight was over.

They’d lost.

**Author's Note:**

> So... you should definitely leave a comment. Comments make me smile every time I see one come into my inbox and then again when I get to reply. Comments are the greatest gift you can give an author. Especially if there's screaming involved. *looks at meg*


End file.
